10 online dating terms you need to know now

The lingo you need to know about dating, rating, mating and hating in the Internet age.

By Ariel Zeitlin

Ghosting

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No list of this kind would be complete without the infamous term “ghosting,” the coward’s way out of awkward social interaction, romantic or otherwise. This is one of the worst examples we’ve ever heard of: “One night at dinner…Michael and Linda mutually agreed that they wanted to move forward in the relationship. He dropped her off at home, kissed her goodnight … and never heard from her again.” Not nice but it gets so, so much worse: “After his attempts to reach her went unanswered, Michael…delivered Linda’s favourite cupcakes to her office – only to find out his name had been removed from the guest list at the gate.” Ouch! But we do kind of wonder just how many times he called her first.

Zombies

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Remember Gloria Gaynor’s great disco classic “I Will Survive”? She finally gets over the jerk who ghosted her and there he is sitting in her living room: “I should have changed that stupid lock. I should have made you leave your key. If I had known for just one second you’d be back to bother me.” Well, that’s the ultimate zombie anthem, only 40 years later, it all takes place online. Says one dating coach: “Zombie-ing can be as a simple as an ex who disappeared liking something on your Facebook or Instagram, or sending a request to connect on LinkedIn. (Subtext: I don’t have the courage to end our relationship respectfully, but please help me find a job!)” We don’t need no stinkin’ dating coach to move this one along.

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